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Phocinae
Phocinae (known colloquially as "Northern seals") is a subfamily of Phocidae whose distribution is found in the seas surrounding the Holarctic, with the Baikal seal (''Pusa sibirica'') being the world's only freshwater species of pinniped. What distinguishes them from other phocid seals is the presence of well-developed claws on their front and back flippers. The Phocinae is divided into three extant tribes: Erignathini (represented by the sole extant Bearded seal ''Erignathus barbatus''), Cystophorini (another extant monotypic tribe represented by Hooded seal The hooded seal (''Cystophora cristata'') is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic, ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. The seals are typically silver-grey or white in color, w ... ''Cystophora cristata''), and Phocini (represented by the rest of the other surviving species in the subfamily). Members of both Erignathini and Cystophorini have 34 chromo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praepusa
''Praepusa'' is an extinct genus of earless seals from Neogene marine deposits in Europe. Five species, ''P. boeska,'' ''P. magyaricus'', ''P. pannonica'', ''P. tarchankutica'' and ''P. vindoboensis'', are known. Description ''Praepusa'''s occipital bones possess well-developed jugular processes. The canine teeth are developed, and the molars are predominantly tricuspid in form, and, like the premolars, are packed closely together. The mandible as a whole is small and thin, with a symphyseal portion that is bluntly rounded, and the chin is most prominent between premolars 3–4. The facial part of the skull is relatively low and shortened, and the mandible is more compact. The deltoid crest of the humerus is sharp, with maximal distention at its proximal end. The trochanteric fossa of the femur is wide and medially open, though deep. Taxonomy There are five recognized species of ''Praepusa''. ''P. boeska'', known from Pliocene deposits in the Netherlands, is notable for bei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earless Seal
The earless seals, phocids or true seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae (). They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae. Seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and, with the exception of the more tropical monk seals, are mostly confined to polar, subpolar, and temperate climates. The Baikal seal is the only species of exclusively freshwater seal. Taxonomy and evolution Evolution The earliest known fossil earless seal is ''Noriphoca gaudini'' from the late Oligocene or earliest Miocene ( Aquitanian) of Italy. Other early fossil phocids date from the mid-Miocene, 15 million years ago in the north Atlantic. Until recently, many researchers believed that phocids evolved separately from otariids and odobenids; and that they evolved from otter-like animals, such as ''Potamotherium'', which inhabited E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bearded Seal
The bearded seal (''Erignathus barbatus''), also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its generic name from two Greek words (''eri'' and ''gnathos'') that refer to its heavy jaw. The other part of its Linnaean name means bearded and refers to its most characteristic feature, the conspicuous and very abundant whiskers. When dry, these whiskers curl very elegantly, giving the bearded seal a "raffish" look. Bearded seals are the largest northern phocid. They have been found to weigh as much as with the females being the largest. However, male and female bearded seals are not very dimorphic. The only member of the genus ''Erignathus'', the bearded seal is unique in that it is an intermediate. Bearded seals belong to the family Phocidae which contains two subfamilies: Phocinae and Monachinae. The bearded seal possesses characteristics of both of these subfamilies. Fossils first described in 2002 indicate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinniped
Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae (whose only living member is the walrus), Otariidae (the eared seals: sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (the earless seals, or true seals). There are 34 extant species of pinnipeds, and more than 50 extinct species have been described from fossils. While seals were historically thought to have descended from two ancestral lines, molecular evidence supports them as a monophyletic lineage (descended from one ancestral line). Pinnipeds belong to the order Carnivora; their closest living relatives are musteloids (weasels, raccoons, skunks, and red pandas), having diverged about 50 million years ago. Seals range in size from the and Baikal seal to the and southern elephant seal male, which is also the largest member of the order Carnivora. Several species exh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kawas (genus)
''Kawas'' is an extinct genus of phocid from the Miocene of Argentina. It contains a single species known as ''Kawas benegasorum''. Etymology ''Kawas'' comes from the Tehuelche language and is the feminine form of 'Kawa' (elephant seal). 'Kawas' can also be translated to mean 'mermaid'. Description ''Kawas'' was described from an articulated partial skeleton that has been dated to the middle Miocene around 12-14 million years ago. The skeleton is notable by the fact that it shares features in common with "northern hemisphere" seals (Phocinae) then it does other seals from the southern hemisphere, all traditionally placed in the subfamily Monachinae. This may suggest the Monachinae is paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa .... Another notable aspect of ''Kawas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frisiphoca
''Frisiphoca'' is an extinct genus of phocid belonging to the subfamily Phocinae. It is known from fossils found in the late Miocene of Belgium. Taxonomy There are two species of ''Frisiphoca'', ''F. aberratum'' and ''F. affine''. Both were previously assigned to ''Monotherium'',P. J. Van Beneden. 1876. Les phoques fossiles du bassin d'Anvers. Bulletins de l'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 41:783-803 but Dewaele et al. (2018) found those species generically distinct from the ''Monotherium'' type species and placed them in their own genus, ''Frisiphoca''. Fossils Fossils of ''Frisiphoca aberratum'' and ''F. affine'' occur in the Tortonian-age Diest Formation Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around ... of the vicinity of Antwerp, Belgiu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leptophoca
''Leptophoca'' is an extinct genus of earless seals from the North Atlantic realm. Taxonomy ''Leptophoca lenis'' was coined by Frederick True for a humerus from the Calvert Formation The Calvert Formation is a geologic formation in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. It preserves fossils dating back to the early to middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene period. The formation is a destination for amateur fossil hunters as well as pr ... of Maryland. Later, Clayton Ray referred ''"Prophoca" proxima'' from the Antwerp region, Belgium, to ''Leptophoca''. A second nominal ''Leptophoca'' species, ''L. amphiatlantica'', was coined for specimens found on both sides of the North Atlantic. A 2017 study found ''proxima'' and ''lenis'' to be the same species, rendering ''proxima'' the epithet of the ''Leptophoca'' type species, but evidence for the validity of ''L. amphiatlantica'' was deemed weak, rendering ''amphiatlantica'' a ''nomen dubium'' within ''Leptophoca''.Dewaele L, Lambert O, Louwy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanophoca
''Nanophoca'' is an extinct genus of earless seals from the middle Miocene of Belgium. Taxonomy In 1871, Pierre-Joseph van Beneden erected ''"Phoca" vitulinoides'' for a maxilla, atlas, sacrum, ulna, two ankle bones, and phalanx from Miocene deposits in the Antwerp region of Belgium. In later papers, he referred some additional material to the species. van Beneden interpreted ''"P." vitulinoides'' as a close relative of the harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea .... The assignment of ''vitulinoides'' to ''Phoca'' was cast into doubt in two papers published in 2008 concerning fossil phocids from the North Atlantic realm. Koretsky and Ray (2008) designated the sacrum the lectotype of ''"P. vitulinoides'' but nonetheless treated the species as dubious. Based on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phocanella
''Phocanella'' is an extinct genus of earless seal The earless seals, phocids or true seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae (). They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from th ...s from the early Pliocene of Belgium and the US Eastern Seaboard. The type and only species of ''Phocanella'' is ''P. pumila''. The second nominal ''Phocanella'' species, ''P. minor'', is a synonym. Two additional taxa referred to the genus, ''P. couffoni'' and ''P. straeleni'', are ''nomina dubia''.I. A. Koretsky and A. M. M. Peters. 2008. Batavipusa (Carnivora, Phocidae, Phocinae): a new genus from the eastern shore of the North Atlantic Ocean (Miocene seals of the Netherlands, part II). Deinsea 12:53-62. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q30693561 Pliocene pinnipeds Phocines Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric pinnipeds of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1877 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gryphoca
''Gryphoca'' is an extinct genus of earless seal The earless seals, phocids or true seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal lineage, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae (). They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from th ...s from Neogene marine deposits in the North Sea basin. Fossils There are two recognized species of ''Gryphoca'', ''G. similis'' and ''G. nordica''. ''G. similis'' is known from Pliocene marine deposits in the Antwerp region of Belgium, while fossils of ''P. nordica'' have been found in the Tortonian-age Gram Formation in Denmark.I. Koretsky, S. Rahmat, and N. Peters (2014). "Rare late Miocene seal taxa (Carnivora, Phocidae) from the North Sea Basin". ''Vestnik zoologii'' 48(5):419–432. References Miocene pinnipeds Pliocene pinnipeds Phocines Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric pinnipeds of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1877 {{paleo-carnivora-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Seal
The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". It is the only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus''. Its name is spelled gray seal in the US; it is also known as Atlantic seal and the horsehead seal. Taxonomy There are two recognized subspecies of this seal: The type specimen of ''H. g. grypus'' (Zoological Museum of Copenhagen specimen ZMUC M11-1525, caught off the island of Amager, Danish part of the Baltic Sea) was believed lost for many years but was rediscovered in 2016, and a DNA test showed it belonged to a Baltic Sea specimen rather than from Greenland, as had previously been assumed (because it was first described in Otto Fabricius' book on the animals in Greenland: ''Fauna Groenlandica''). The name ''H. g. grypus'' was therefore transferred to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
